


And For Evermore (that's how you'll stay)

by dreamedofwings (fabre)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Soldier!Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2018-02-24 05:58:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2570696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabre/pseuds/dreamedofwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the expectation that comes from knowing you’re going home after a long time away can be harder to deal with than the actual distance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And For Evermore (that's how you'll stay)

Sometimes the expectation that comes from knowing you’re going home after a long time away can be harder to deal with than the actual distance.

Dean’s been unable to sleep right for a week now, waking up constantly in the middle of the night with only the half-remembered whispers of dreams to keep him company as he lies there on his back, staring at the bottom of someone else’s bed.   
  
When he closes his eyes he can see miles of unmarred skin, perpetually chapped lips forming a tentative smile that means so much more than someone else’s full-out grin ever could. He remembers bright blue eyes, and how they seemed to age when Dean had received notice of his deployment. They’d been resigned, but always supportive -- always with a trace of sadness, but never with  _doubt_.

Dean opens his eyes and reaches for the flashlight and the stack of letters he keeps under his pillow, oh so carefully extracting an envelope that has seen better days, its contents so obviously opened and reopened again and again, clear from the multitude of creases in the paper, but still handled with all the love in the world, like it’s something precious, something sacred.

_[Cooking is not as ‘fun’ as you had led me to believe. Sam says I am improving, but I suspect he is merely being polite.]_

_[I have followed your instructions and started a vegetable garden. On this instance, at least, you were correct -- I am enjoying caring for it. I have also taken your suggestions into consideration and only planted things 'you would eat in a burger'. Sam says this means I am spoiling you. Perhaps he is right.]_

_[I am taking this opportunity to inform you I have adopted a cat. His name is Mr. Fluffles. I did not choose the name, but I felt it wrong to name him something else and strip him of his identity. In case this is cause of concern for you, I already spoke with your doctor and he said you should be fine, as long as you take your medicine regularly.]_

All of Cas' letters are like this. Full of information about this day, his activities -- never full of heartfelt pleas to have Dean come home.  
  
But Dean knows better. He knows Cas, so he can read between the lines.  
  
Every conversation with his doctor about how he will adapt to living with a cat is a quiet ' _I'm thinking of you'_.  
  
Every mention about how Cas is growing things Dean will like a ' _You still have a home to return to'._

The contents of these letters might seem like nothing extraordinary to someone else, but to Dean, they mean the world.  
  
[ _Sam is teaching me how to prepare your mother's apple pie recipe. So far, my attempts have not been effective, but I will persevere._ ]  
  
 _'Come back safe, beloved'._  
  
Dean presses the letter against his lips with a small smile.  
  
"Soon, Cas. Soon."   
  
***  
  
When Dean gets back, the letters get stored in a tiny wooden box in their closet.  
  
With Cas in bed next to him, he doesn't need to keep them under his pillow anymore.  
  
He's home.


End file.
